Nova Scotia’s police watchdog has concluded there are no grounds to charge an officer that broke a 17-year-old’s bone during an arrest.
On Jan. 22, a Halifax Regional Police (HRP) officer responded to a complaint of a disturbance in which a mother wanted her 17-year-old daughter removed from the residence.
A report issued by the Serious Incident Response Team (SiRT) says the female was verbally abusive towards her mother and her mother’s boyfriend. It also says the responding officer heard shouting when they arrive at the residence.
After an attempt to defuse the situation the girl started being physically aggressive towards her mother and the boyfriend, SiRT said.
The officer then called for assistance.
Once an assisting officer arrived, both officers tried to verbally diffuse the situation but did not succeed.
“She refused to cooperate and began kicking items in the kitchen area and moving away from the officers,” the SiRT report found.
“The officers held on to her arms and attempted to place her in handcuffs, but she resisted and lunged forward kicking items and moving towards her mother’s boyfriend.”
The watchdog found the officers attempted to put the girl’s arms behind her back to handcuff her but she continued to resist.
According to the release, the second officer to arrive pushed on the girl’s shoulder “as he was trying to pull her arm behind her back when he heard a pop.”
The officer was found to have immediately released the pressure on her arm and emergency services were called.
However, the girl did not cooperate with the paramedics, the release says.
An X-ray later showed that a bone in her upper arm was broken.
SiRT concluded that the evidence shows the police rightfully arrested the girl and used “reasonable force” to carry out the arrest.
“In these circumstances, there are no grounds to consider charges against the officer,” the report reads.